Mind Map of Accessibility in Idaho Higher Education

This Mind Map of Accessibility in Idaho Higher Education was something Jeremy Seda put together after CSUN 2018 to help explain all the intricacies of the laws and guidelines that relate to accessibility in higher education. The highest-level goal is Universal Design.  In order to be successful in Universal Design, we must provide accessible solutions to Stakeholders adhering to Standards, which help us comply with the State and Federal Laws to avoid receiving OCR Complaints and becoming a Legal Precedent for others to learn from. 

 

A mindmap cluster with "Accessibility in Idaho Higher Education" in the center. The 2nd level items include Stakeholders, Standards, Guidelines from Related Organizations, State Guidelines, Laws, OCR Complaints/Legal Precedents. Stakeholders branches off with Persons with Disabilities, Advocates and Vendors. Off from Vendors branches Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®) 2.x, which branches off to Accessibility Conformance Report, which is derrived from the VPAT®. Standards includes two branches, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). WAI branches off to Accesible Rich Internet Applications 1.1 (WAI-ARIA) and Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (ATAG, which releates to accessibility of Content Management Systems). Guidelines from Related Organizations brances off to Described Caption Media Program (DCMP). State Guidelines branches off to Idaho Technology Authority (ITA), which uses original Section 508 standards (based on WAI and WCAG 1.0). Laws branches off to Federal Laws, which branches off to four children. The first is the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA, applicable to Higher Ed in how Emergency Info is disseminated). The second branch is Rehabilitiation Act of 1973, which branches off to Section 501 (prohibits discrimination in Federal employment), Section 502 (created and directs US Access Board to develop access standards and guidelines), Section 504 and Section 508 (procurement law, developed in 2000). Section 508 branches off to Revised 508 Standards (created in January of 2017). The third branch of Federal Laws is Telecommunications Act of 1996, which branches off to Section 255. The fourth branch of Federal Laws is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA was created in 1990). The 2008 Amendment Act (ADAAA) branches off of the ADA and includes Title 2 (Public Entities, applies to state and local government) and Title 3 (Public Accommodations, applies to Privately owned/operated spaces that are available to the public).

The laws around accessibility have a firm foundation planted and there are standards that we will all need to eventually adhere to.  Jess Thompson of the Washington State Board nailed it when she said, “if you’re trying to find some sort of deadline for making your ITC resources accessible, it was 20 years ago.  Instead just start working on accessibility.  Something as easy as adding headings to your Word Documents will get you 80% improvement on accessibility.  Though it is not perfection, it is progress."

Print Article